WASHINGTON (AP) — NASA is aiming to launch a rocket to an asteroid in five years and grab a boulder off of it — a stepping stone for an eventual trip sending humans to Mars.
The space agency Wednesday unveiled details of the $1.25 billion plan to launch a solar powered unmanned spaceship to an asteroid in December 2020. The ship would then spend about a year circling the large space rock and pluck a 13-foot boulder off its surface.
NASA Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot said the smaller rock would be hauled near the moon and parked there. Two astronauts would fly to it in 2025 and start exploring.
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